AES and Marketer FAQs

FAQs

General

What is Electric Choice?
Electric Choice is a statewide initiative giving all customers the option to choose the company that supplies their electricity. Residential and Business customers can elect to remain a customer of a regulated utility, such as DTE Electric, or enter into a contract with an Alternative Electric Supplier.

Electric Choice, or restructuring, separates electric service into its three basic components: generation, transmission and distribution. When a customer elects to participate in Electric Choice, the cost of electric supply, generation and transmission, will be determined by a contract between the customer and the Alternative Electric Supplier.

Regardless of who supplies the electricity, the regulated utility will continue to provide the distribution and metering services required to deliver power to the homes or businesses located within their service territory.

As an AES or a Marketer who is qualified to participate in DTE Electric Choice Program, who can I call at DTE Electric if I have questions?
An AES or a Marketer should contact the Supplier Account Manager that DTE Electric has assigned to your company when they have inquires about the DTE Electric Choice Program.

Where can I get more information on Electric Choice in the state of Michigan?
Visit the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) website to find a directory of licensed Alternative Electric Suppliers and Marketers, MPSC’s Glossary of Electric Choice Terms, and to learn more about Electric Choice in Michigan.

What are the DTE Electric rate classifications?
All rates are contained in DTE Electric's rate book, which can be viewed on the MPSC web site.

Qualifications

What does a supplier need to do to qualify?
Navigate to the Supplier Tools section of this website to find the instructions on how to qualify as an AES or Marketer.

Who do I call at DTE Electric if my company is interested in participating in DTE Electric Choice Program as an AES or Marketer?
You can call the DTE Electric Choice Supplier Support Center hotline toll-free at 888.830.2170, or in the Detroit area dial 313.235.3796 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.

Agreements

If I am an Alternative Electric Supplier (AES) and a Marketer, do both AES and Marketer Agreements need to be executed?
Yes, the AES and Marketer Agreements have different terms and conditions, both agreements must be executed if you elect to participate as both an AES and a Marketer in DTE Electric Choice Program.

What is the duration of the AES and Marketer Agreements?
The AES Agreement will remain in effect unless canceled pursuant to Section 15 of the agreement, or terminated without cause by either Party with 30 days prior written notice. DTE reserves the right to replace or amend the AES Agreement as appropriate to reflect changes required by regulatory agencies.

The Marketer Agreement will remain in effect unless canceled pursuant to Section 9 of the agreement, or terminated without cause by either Party with 30 days prior written notice. DTE reserves the right to replace or amend this Marketer Agreement as appropriate to reflect changes required by regulatory agencies.

How does an AES notify DTE Electric that their Marketer Relationship has changed?
An AES has the right to declare the entity that will act as their Marketer for their enrolled customer accounts. When an AES switches to a new Marketer they must notify DTE Electric of the new Marketer selection. The effective date of service from the new Marketer and termination of the former Marketer will occur on the first day of the calendar month following the completion of the following new Marketer participation requirements:

An AES must notify DTE Electric at least 30 days prior to the effective date of service from the new Marketer and termination of the former Marketer by submitting a new Alternative Electric Supplier-Marketer Notice form located in “AES Declaring a Switch of Marketer Relationship” section of the Supplier Tool Box.

The new entity you selected as your company’s Marketer must register for the Marketer participant role. Please direct your Marketer to complete the steps in the “How to Qualify as a Marketer” section of the Supplier Tool Box.

The DTE Electric Supplier Account Manager assigned to your company will contact the established AES Daily Contact Representative to assist your company with the Switch of Marketer Relationship Process.

What is the process for a Complete Billing AES to update their financial institution with DTE Electric?
When an AES who elected to participate in DTE Electric Choice Program with the Complete Billing Option changes financial institution the AES must provide DTE Electric the new banking information via the following process:

The DTE Electric Supplier Account Manager assigned to your company will contact the established AES Daily Contact Representative to assist your company with the process to declare the new financial institution.

Participant Relationships

If I am both the alternative electric supplier (AES) and the Marketer, do I need to execute the AES-Marketer Notice (identifying a relationship with myself)?
Yes. Even though you are both the AES and marketer, you must sign the AES-Marketer Notice. The AES-Marketer Notice informs DTE Electric whom the AES will have as its Marketer.

Can an AES have more than one Marketer?
Yes. AESs will need to identify each marketer with whom they will conduct business in a separate AES-Marketer Notice submitted to DTE Electric. A separate CP Node designation is required for each AES-Marketer business relationship.

Obtaining Usage Information

Who will be allowed to get customer information and the associated historical usage data?
The customer has always had access to its historical usage information and will continue to have access under the Electric Choice Program. Anyone authorized by the customer can get customer historical usage information. A Customer Information Release form is used to facilitate this request. The Customer Information Release form can be found in the Supplier Tool Box section of this website.

How long does it take to get a customer's 12-month bill history once we have faxed the request?
Customer use information will be sent to the requestor within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request, barring unusual circumstances.

How will the AES get billing determinants to use in billing its customers for energy?
The AES will get an XML 867 transaction set after the enrolled account is invoiced by DTE Electric.

How will the AES know if the XML enrollments are received?
The AES will receive an XML 814 confirmation transaction indicating a successful enrollment. For rejected enrollments, the XML 814 provides the reasons for rejection.

How will the AES and Marketer know when the customer is ready for electric choice service?
Both the AES and Marketer will receive an XML 814 transaction set indicating that the customer is Site Ready, which means all validation checks have been completed and all metering requirements are in place.

How does an AES or an Aggregator request Peak Load Contribution (PLC) values?
An AES or an Aggregator should submit a completed Customer Information Release Form to the DTE Electric Choice Supplier Support Center to request PLC values.

Who does an AES or an Aggregator contact regarding Peak Load Contribution (PLC) calculations?
An AES should contact the Supplier Account Manager that DTE Electric has assigned to your company when they have inquires about PLC calculations.
An Aggregator should contact the DTE Electric Choice Supplier Support Center at 1.888.830.2170 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST Monday through Friday or email them at suppliers@dteenergy.com

Billing In-Service Electric Choice Accounts

How will customer billing be handled?
The Alternative Electric Supplier (AES) has the option to have DTE Electric bill on its behalf, which is referred to as Complete Billing, or to bill its customers directly, which is referred to as Separate Billing. If the AES elects the Complete Billing option, the customer will receive one bill statement. The AES energy supply charges are separated from DTE Electric delivery charges to allow the customer to review each individual charge separately. If the AES chooses the Separate Billing option, the customer will receive two separate bills: one bill from the AES for energy supply charges and one bill from DTE Electric for delivery charges.

Will there be a charge to switch to an Alternative Electric Supplier?
A $5.00 fee will be charged each time a customer switches to a different energy supplier. The switch fee applies when a customer switches from DTE Electric to an Alternative Electric Supplier (AES), from one AES to another AES, or from an AES back to DTE Electric.

Meter Data

For those customers who elect to use the DTE Electric load profiling methodology, is there a cost associated with this service?
No, there is no cost for the load profiling service.

If a separate data recording module is required for Marketers to obtain real-time data from a customer's existing meter, is it DTE Electric's intention to hold the Marketer responsible for the installation and maintenance of this equipment?
Yes. The customer, AES or Marketer can install their own recorder using the pulses supplied at the meter installation. If they choose to have DTE Electric install the recorder, DTE Electric will charge the Marketer or customer for the installation and maintenance of DTE Electric approved separate data recording modules.

What is your estimate of the cost of a data-recording module?
The meter data-recording module is available for the customer at a cost of $8 per month. This request can be made by completing the Customer Information Release Form. For more information, please contact the DTE Electric Choice Supplier Support Center at 1.888.830.2170 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.

Who can I contact to ask questions about Load Profiling?
AES and Marketers should contact the Supplier Account Manager that DTE Electric has assigned to your company when they have inquiries regarding Load Profiling.

Enrollment Process

What is the Electric Choice “minimum term” for Business Customers?
The minimum term for business customers is two years.

What is the Electric Choice “minimum term”?
The minimum term for Electric Choice Residential Electric Service is one full billing cycle.

What is “slamming”?
Slamming is the unauthorized switching of a customer’s energy supply without their permission.

How will slamming be controlled?
The DTE Electric Choice Program’s customer enrollment process incorporates a confirmation process to help reduce the likelihood of slamming. The electric restructuring legislation enacted in June 2000 made slamming illegal. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has established penalties for companies that engage in this practice. For more information, visit the MPSC website and search for MPSC Case Number U-12640.

When the customer is enrolled and has been notified, can the customer dispute the enrollment?
If the customer disputes their enrollment at any time, we will take the word of the customer, stop the enrollment process and notify the respective AES that the customer requested a cancellation.

If a customer is already enrolled with an AES and a second AES tries to enroll the same customer, what happens?
If the customer's first enrollment is still pending, the new enrollment will be rejected. However, if the customer is in service as an Electric Choice customer, the new enrollment will be treated as a switch request and all parties will be notified.

Where can I find DTE Electric’s current Electric Choice participation level numbers and available energy allotments for the DTE Electric Choice Program?
The Cap Tracking System is a web-based tracker that displays the Cap level of the DTE Electric Choice Program. Click on Cap Tracking System on the menu bar to view the current Electric Choice participation level and available energy allotments of the DTE Electric Choice Program. Also DTE Electric reports its monthly and year-to-date retail sales summaries in the Appendix to the Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) 45-Day Report.

If the regulated electric utility’s 10 percent cap is fully subscribed, what happens to new enrollments that I submit?
Under state law, no more than 10 percent of a regulated electric utility’s average weather-adjusted retail sales for the preceding calendar year may take service from an Alternative Electric Supplier at any time. If the regulated electric utility’s 10 percent cap is fully subscribed, new enrollments will be placed in a Cap queue, per the procedures established in Case No. U-15801. For more information regarding Case No. U-15801 and the Electric Choice 10% Cap, please see the Customer Choice tab under Electricity on the MPSC website.

What happens if an enrolled account either moves or asks for a read out or read in?
If a customer notifies us of a move and requests a disconnect, we will initiate the "Drop" functionality in the system, which in turn notifies the AES and marketer of record of this "Drop." The meter read data will be obtained and forwarded as part of an 867 XML transaction set.

How is the name or other customer information shared between the AES and DTE Electric as the distribution company?
DTE Electric releases customer information used to establish an AES relationship when we receive the properly executed Customer Information Release form submitted on behalf of the customer and signed by both the customer and the AES. Information beyond usage information, such as payment history and credit, is not released unless the customer chooses to give this information to the AES.